Chapter 2 – Darkmtl

Chapter 2


“That part is a bit disappointing.”

I tapped my fingers on the imaginary keyboard in the air.

“Star Lord, could you help me out a little?”

At my request, the holographic image floating before me shifted.

[The Dream Storyteller is asking if this is alright.]

The message from the Star Lord followed.

“It’s perfect.”

Tatata-tat!

While other developers whined about how they couldn’t implement my ideas despite me conveying the concept, our Star Lord executed it in an instant.

This was the greatest fortune I gained from falling into this world.

“Ugh…”

After three days of intense concentration on the final review, I could finally lay my tired body on the bed.

[The Dream Storyteller pats your back for your hard work.]

“You’ve worked hard, Star Lord…”

I chuckled at the message of the Star Lord that popped up before my eyes.

In this world I had fallen into, the continent of Leifania was home to numerous Star Lords.

Each of them was a hero who had achieved great deeds and reached divinity.

However, my Star Lord, the [Dream Storyteller], was too cute to be called a great Star Lord.

And for me, who had possessed the poor, commoner academy student, the Star Lord was nothing short of a benefactor.

Without her, I wouldn’t just be making a game reminiscent of Earth in this dull Leifania; I’d be worrying about how to make ends meet.

[The Dream Storyteller is chattering about how she’s looking forward to the responses after the game launches.]

“Me too.”

What I longed for was not just the games I enjoyed on Earth.

It was the interaction and community shared by users enjoying those games together.

I wanted to relive that society.

During the year I spent creating this game with the Star Lord, I blended many artifacts from Earth with the powers of the deity of dreams.

If this game were to make waves in this world, it would turn Leifania upside down.

Hoping for its success, I succumbed to my heavy eyelids.

*

The largest community on the continent of Leifania, powered by mana, is ‘Aperaio’.

Aperaio is composed of various communities centered around numerous topics.

Among them was a large-scale community dedicated to games—the Magic Engineering Game Gallery.

– Isn’t Elfras’ new game, Mephitaphor, super boring?
– Check out the drawing Masuni made.
– Academy girl breaks the miso jar cookie.
– Demon King Soft’s updates?
– Ahem, I eat twenty meals a day.

As usual, the Magic Engineering Game Gallery was filled with meaningless chatter unrelated to games.

Title: Today’s Insane New Quality Game Released

A post about a new game had appeared in that community.

(A rough image file of the game’s screen)

The title was [Akashic Archive].

It was a game where you could obtain characters created by the Star Lords and use them.

It was said to be serviced on its own platform.

And it was totally free!

– Star Lords? Is the production company insane?
– It looks pretty good though?
– Are they seriously giving away a game? Don’t they want to make money?
– Don’t talk about games in the Magic Gallery.

Just when it seemed like the new game would be forgotten without much fanfare from the community,

– Hold up, this game is kind of strange.
– ??? This game feels real.

It transformed into a powerful bait that quickly covered the community.

– You guys, I think this is crazy! It’s a virtual reality game!
– Nonsense, it’s stated that a magical fantasy-powered virtual reality isn’t possible.
– No, no, it’s real! Just try it out!

With its easy access being free, the game quickly attracted users through a simple structure manifested by the mana terminal.

The new game [Akashic Archive] swiftly gathered players.

*

[Success! We already have 10,000 users! The Dream Storyteller raises both hands in joy.]

“That’s a success! Congratulations, Star Lord.”

I smiled at the rapidly climbing real-time user graph.

Using the dream powers manifested through our Star Lord, the virtual reality game was unlike the clumsy virtual reality realized through fantasy magic; it allowed players to enter the game world simply by executing it on the terminal.

It was possible to implement the game within the user’s dreams.

A far superior virtual reality game than those powered by outdated mana terminals.

I infused in it all the designs, visuals, and content I had enjoyed from countless games in my previous life.

To the inhabitants of Leifania, who were used to playing antiquated games from the ’90s to early ’00s, it would be a new world.

Once started, I was confident they would never want to escape.

Most importantly, my game was free.

It was the first free game in this world to adopt an in-app purchase model.

Considering the higher ratio of people who disliked spending money on games compared to Earth, this would help spread the game widely.

“When the money comes in, let’s build the Star Lord’s temple right away.”

As I celebrated the success, the real-time user count soared past 20,000.

Simultaneously, the number of players signing up for efficient monthly subscriptions and battle passes surged.

Money was rolling in crazy amounts.

Unlike ordinary games, this game was brought to life solely through my thoughts and the Star Lord’s powers, so there were no development or server costs involved.

This massive revenue entering now was pure profit.

[The Dream Storyteller asks if she can stop eating the stale bread now.]

[The Dream Storyteller wonders if she can dip the bread in sauce now.]

[The Dream Storyteller asks if she can have juice now.]

…What kind of life has our Star Lord been living until now?

Even in the Divine Realm, would one have to live in poverty if there were no offerings from apostates or believers?

Yet, she never ordered me to offer anything just because I was poor?

Even while using her powers to assist my project?

My loyalty to the Star Lord began to swell.

“Of course, Star Lord. I will offer plenty of offerings, so look forward to it.”

But now, things would be different.

We would become rich!

*

Somewhere in the lofty dimension of the Divine Realm,

“Yawn.”

A divine woman stretched as she rose from her white bed.

Even though she had woken up from sleep, she stared blankly at the air, her eyebrows suddenly twitched.

“The divinity… has increased suddenly?”

The divine essence, which she usually generated through her believers and apostles, was the core resource and power behind the miracles a deity performs.

Yet, incomprehensibly, it had skyrocketed.

She hadn’t done anything but slept.

“…What in the world?”

The goddess focused on the heart of the deity within her, seeking the point where the divine essence had gathered.

The divine essence had rapidly accumulated.

It was connected to various places across the continent, not originating from a specific country or group.

It was a scale of divine essence that one could only expect to see if an apostate had achieved a significant victory in a grand war.

The goddess viewed the lower realms with the eyes of a deity.

What could be the cause of this situation?

What factor could have invoked such faith to bring her divine essence?

– I cried because I wanted to marry Ren.
– Great Queen Ren.
– I’m sorry for starting out, but I got Ren on the first pull; is that good?
– She’s my wife.
– Well done.
– Ren-ren, sleep now.

Mortals mentioning her true name, [Ren], through the community.

They all had one commonality.

– I almost cried when Ren saved us.
– I didn’t know Ren was such a wonderful person.

They had all played the game [Akashic Archive] and encountered the being named Ren within it.

…How dare they?

Goddess Ren felt her anger rising.

To use my name so carelessly? And even my true name?

Perception of a deity leads to faith, and then to authority.

How dare an unknown creature try to tarnish that authority?

It was a transgression deserving of divine wrath.

“…”

As Ren gazed down at the lower realms, she pondered for a moment.

While it would be justified to purify the production company behind this blasphemous game right away, she could give them some leniency for spreading praise about her.

Above all, the faith pouring in from all directions pleased her.

“…Should I give the game a try?”

Though she didn’t know what kind of game it was, it wouldn’t hurt to play it once before passing judgment to grasp the situation accurately.